


Restoring Equilibrium

by Cristinuke



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Butt Plugs, Caning, Cock Rings, Electricity, Fucking, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Paddling, Predicament Bondage, Stress Postitions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 17:29:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3818860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cristinuke/pseuds/Cristinuke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve needed to let go of some of that weight, needed to recalibrate every so often. He'd go insane if he didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Restoring Equilibrium

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the incredible [varjohaltija](http://archiveofourown.org/users/varjohaltija)

Steve looked miserable as he destroyed one of Stark's 'undestroyable' punching bags. Clearly, there were still some improvements left to be made on the gym equipment.

"You look like shit Steve." Tony stated blatantly. Steve glanced at him and then promptly ignored him, but it had been enough for Tony to see the look of desperation in his eyes. Steve was not doing well at all.

"Wanna go upstairs?" Tony asked quietly as he took in Steve's rigid posture, and tight fists. He knew Steve would go. It was what they did when he got like this, too wound up to relax properly, too weighed down by the stress and worries of the world that he always took upon himself to shoulder. Steve needed to let go of some of that weight, needed to recalibrate every so often. He'd go insane if he didn't.

Steve didn't answer, but he did give a short nod. He looked despondent as he stood over the ruined punching bag, head lowered and shoulders hunched.  He didn't move until Tony walked over and gently pulled on one of his wrists. He could feel the tension practically radiating from Steve, and it took a little bit of squeezing for Steve to finally react and let Tony lead him away from the gym.

Steve was silent as Tony guided him into their personal elevator and had Jarvis take them up to the penthouse. Tony nudged him out and then ordered lowly, "Strip. You know where to go."

Steve knew exactly what he was supposed to do in these situations, but Tony knew that he preferred it when Tony reiterated everything with an air of authority. It helped ease some of the weight already, and if worked, then Tony would do it.

Tony watched as Steve mechanically took off his work-out shirt and sweatpants, leaving them haphazardly on the floor instead of folding them like usual. His underwear joined the pile quickly after and then he was shuffling over to the right side of the room where their contraption of sorts was. Really, it was just manacles that were attached to the ceiling that could retract and shift. On the wall, there was an assortment of tools and props that would be used over the course of the night. For now, Steve just stood still and waited for Tony to come over.

Tony walked towards Steve slowly, watching his body grow tenser with anticipation. He was resolutely refusing eye contact, though. Tony hated that, and reached a hand out to grip Steve's chin and forced him to turn towards him. Steve moved easily, but his eyes remained downcast.

"We're going to fix this tonight." Tony murmured.

Steve didn't say anything, but Tony let it go for the moment. "Hands up." Tony ordered, and Steve obeyed sluggishly. Tony was careful as he wrapped the soft-lined cuffs that served as manacles around his wrists; Steve automatically curled his fingers around the chains that held him up. Once secure, Jarvis started retracting the chains, pulling Steve up high enough that his toes could barely brush the floor.

Satisfied with the position, Tony looked up to see Steve's eyes were still focused on the floor. Tony reached up and lightly cupped his face, gently preventing Steve from turning away.

"Steve, look at me." Tony ordered softly. He waited. He waited, feeling a slight tremble go through Steve until he finally looked up, making eye contact for only a brief moment before he lowered his gaze again. It was enough of a glance for Tony to see the pain and desperation that was clearly there.

"If you need me to stop, tell me. I will." Tony always made this very clear, even though he knew that Steve would never say anything. "Do you understand?" Steve nodded dejectedly.

Tony always had to keep a careful eye on Steve when he got like this, because Steve would just take everything Tony threw at him, even if it ruined him. Part of that stubborn streak, Tony supposed.

Tony let go, letting his hand trail back to his own side before saying, "Spread your legs and keep them wide." He waited until Steve's arms bunched up above him, grip going tight on the chains, and he slowly spread his legs apart, dangling solely from the ceiling. "More." Tony's voice was flat, and Steve responded, widening his stance in midair until his legs were spread out almost twice than shoulder-width. By Tony's calculations, it was nearly sixty degrees. It was a stressful position, one that relied entirely on Steve's will, but Tony knew that Steve was more than capable.

"Keep that position." Tony ordered briskly and turned around to grab the chair from the desk that Steve had brought from his apartment. He sat down heavily on the wooden thing, and angled it so that he had Steve in perfect view. Because of that, he was able to see the involuntary shudder that Steve gave at being 'left alone'. Tony waited a beat to see if Steve would say something, anything, but his mouth was kept resolutely closed, and his eyes still downcast.

Tony grabbed his StarkPad and began to work idly on some work-in- progress project he had in his folder. Occasionally, he glanced up to make sure that Steve was following his order of keeping his legs spread out. Tony was impressed by how long Steve was keeping his position this time.

Eventually, as Tony knew would inevitably happen, Steve's legs started coming together, the difficultness of keeping the position proving to be tiring. When his legs closed five degrees, Tony said absently, "Get back into position."

Steve flinched, as if just realizing that he had failed to maintain his original pose, and in response he quickly spread his legs again, going three degrees wider than before. Tony allowed it, mostly because he knew it would give Steve a little bit of a reprieve once he started getting tired again; Tony only wanted him to maintain that sixty degrees. Of course, in the interim, it was more work for Steve, and he'd get more tired, more quickly; the entire situation was specifically designed to be no-win, and they both knew that, but somehow, every time, Steve had this notion that he would beat it.

Tony went back to tinkering with his project, not really paying much attention, because his main focus was on watching Steve and pinpointing the moment he slipped.

Which, of course, had to come sooner rather than later. "Steve, position." Tony drawled, letting a bit of disappointment bleed into his words. He knew that Steve needed the authoritarian façade that Tony was presenting before he could bear to accept any sort of kindness. Steve quickly fixed his stance, hands re-gripping the chains as he pulled himself into position.

The third time that Tony saw Steve slip, he put the tablet down, and not saying a word, he got up and made his way over to the shelf on the wall that held all of their tools and toys. Steve noticed Tony moving, and he desperately fixed his position, but it was too late. Tony grabbed a paddle and walked to stand behind Steve.

"Don't you dare close your legs." Tony threatened. He gave Steve barely a moment to process that before he swung, hard. He hit Steve squarely on the meat of his ass, and the impact surprised a breath of out Steve. Tony swung again, hitting him in the same spot, and Steve instinctively made to close his legs at the pain. Tony was too fast, though, and he smacked the insides of Steve's thighs before he had the chance to close them all the way. "What did I just say?" Tony growled out. He hit Steve again on the insides before moving back to swing at his ass. Steve huffed out another breath, trying to keep silent. "If you can't keep the position, I'll get the cane."

_That_ garnered a soft moan that got choked off immediately.

Tony picked up a rhythm right after that, hitting Steve's ass, taking extra care to aim at the underside, right where ass meets thighs. Steve panted, still refusing to make more noise, and his legs trembled slightly as he fought to keep his proper stance.

He couldn't do it.

Tony was just starting to make Steve's skin turn red when Steve failed and let his legs drop together. Tony made a _tsk_ noise and stopped to switch toys. Tony picked up the thin, carbonadium cane that he had crafted solely for this purpose, and resumed his previous spot behind Steve.

"Legs. _Now_." Tony hissed, and Steve obediently spread his legs. Tony began to teach Steve to stay in place as he hit the insides of Steve's thighs, laying stripe after stripe of red all along his sensitive flesh. The onslaught went on for a long time, enough for welts to rise, instead of color fading away quickly.

By the time Tony stopped for a break, Steve was shaking under the weight of the whole situation. Steve readjusted his grip on the chains again and his bunched muscles were trembling under the strain of keeping himself still and right. Tony looked around Steve to see him panting hard, his stomach contracting and cock slightly hard.

"You took that well." Tony praised hesitantly, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Tony knew that Steve was still not there yet. So instead, Tony went back to using the cane, this time on his ass, right over the same spots he'd gotten with the paddle.

When Steve proved to be able to hold his legs in their right place, even under the assault of the cane on his ass and upper thighs, then Tony stopped and set the cane down. Tony didn't say a word as he took his time walking back to the chair.

For a long while, the only sound Tony heard was the harsh panting coming from Steve. Tony went back to playing around with his tablet, switching from his project to a game. He hardly paid much attention to the game though. Steve had finally managed to get his breathing under control, and Tony was impressed with how long Steve was lasting until the inevitable closing of his legs.

"Legs." Tony drawled. He could see how angry Steve was getting with himself as he pushed his legs back out into position; Tony was just glad that Steve was giving in enough to display more emotions. It meant that he was starting to break down the barriers that he had constructed for himself.

The second time Tony had to remind Steve, he warned, "If you can't do it, I will bring another mode of enforcement to do it for you." He saw the way Steve bristled at that and flushed red with shame, stuck between anger at Tony for insinuating he couldn't do something, and shame at the fact that he couldn't follow simple orders, despite the fact that he knew how he was set up to fail.

The third time Steve slipped, Tony got up and sighed, putting his tablet down again as Steve slowly started to correct himself, though clearly with less motivation. Tony began to hum tunelessly as he went about gathering the toys and tools he needed to set up the next contraption. As he moved around, Steve let himself go loose again, knowing that he was going to be asked to spread again in just a moment. Tony sighed at the token rebellion and cruelly pinched the sore flesh of Steve's thighs, causing him to let out a short yelp.

"Quit that." Tony admonished, and Steve grudgingly widened his stance again, his back muscles rippling with the effort of holding himself up.

It didn't take long to get everything in place, and soon he was placing a device right underneath Steve. It looked like a little cross with what seemed like a spreader bar lying horizontally on top and held up on a stand. But instead of metal or wood to separate Steve's legs, on the ends of the horizontal bar were two electric wands that stuck outwards. Tony set the bar at the right length so that if Steve didn't maintain the right position of at least sixty degrees, then he'd have no choice but to brush his inner thighs against the ends of the wands and zap himself with the electricity coursing through the device.

The shocks of electricity weren't high voltage at all; they gave more of a jerk reaction than actual pain, though they could be increased to higher levels of discomfort. Tony never bothered to crank up the voltage too high, because it served its purpose of reminding Steve to spread his legs. The highest he'd ever set them was to mild shocks of actual pain, but today they were pretty tame.

Tony patted one of Steve's butt cheeks before leaving him hanging there in his predicament and settling into his chair. Picking up the tablet again was just reflex, but Tony didn't look away from Steve.

Steve was beginning to get tired; it was very clear to see. He was still refusing to make more noise than the occasional heavy breaths that burst out of him like steam from a pressure-cooker. Tony knew that Steve was very strong, but even he had limits and couldn't hold on forever. Sure enough, the first shock against skin made Steve startle badly, enough for him to reflexively try to close his legs, which of course just let to a few more shocks. After the initial fumble, Steve clearly did not like it, and Tony could see the effort that Steve put into keeping the correct position.

He started to sweat, finally, little beads shining along his body and hairline, and Steve's breathing began to be more consistent in its shakiness and soft gasps. He was also finally looking around, little restless movements and desperate glances around the room, looking for an escape, but refusing to look to Tony for it. Tony knew that there was no way Steve was getting out of his manacles unless Tony permitted it, and Steve knew it too, but it didn't stop him from flexing and subtly attempting to break out of his cuffs.

Tony smirked a little as he watched Steve work himself up higher and higher until finally, he hit a tipping point and let his attention wander, bringing his legs close enough together to shock him.

Over and over and over again.

Steve was losing the strength to avoid getting shocked, and soon enough he was getting shocked nearly continuously, body convulsing with shudders and twitches.

Tony got up again and walked over to the wall. He could see how Steve was getting closer to truly letting go, but he still wasn't there yet, still needed more time.

"I think you need something else, don't you?" Tony hummed with faux cheeriness as he grabbed a bottle of lube and a decently large plug. When he turned back to Steve, he saw that Steve was shaking, but holding the right position. Tony came up right behind him and reached up to drag a finger down Steve's spine, slipping through the sweat gathered there, and continuing down between his ass cheeks to rub insistently at his furled hole. Steve gasped and shuddered at the blatant possessiveness and intimacy, and Tony just rubbed harder until he earned a low, helpless moan.

A quick check showed Tony that Steve was completely hard, and his cock was curving up towards his stomach. "Yeah, you definitely need something else."

Tony lubed up his fingers and ordered, "Stay in position." Steve dutifully did as he was told, and Tony got to work, clinically opening and stretching Steve. The only problem was that Steve kept getting distracted by the situation in his ass, creating another situation of shifting and getting touched by the wands.

The first few times Steve got shocked, Tony made low warning sounds, but then he moved on to more verbal admonishments. "Steve, what did I tell you?" Tony was now two fingers in, knuckles deep and scissoring him. "Be a good boy."

That earned Tony a gasped out moan and a shudder that had nothing to do with the wands.

Tony knew he was finally beginning to chip away at Steve, and he turned his clinical attitude into a more playful kind of thing. He started to purposely brush against Steve's prostate, over and over, and relished the half-aborted movements that Steve couldn't help but make. Tony was three fingers in, curling to rub incessantly against that one spot, when Steve finally let go of a few helpless whimpers and a soft exhalation of, " _Tony_."

And there was the chink in Steve's armor.

Now, all Tony had to do was apply a bit more pressure and watch as all of Steve's walls came tumbling down. He let his fingers slip out and grinned to himself when he saw the way Steve tried to follow him back. He quickly lubed up the plug and pushed it in, producing a groan from Steve.

"There you go, something for you to enjoy for a bit. Be a good boy." With that, Tony patted Steve's flank in parting and left him hanging in his new predicament while he went back to his chair. He didn't even bother picking up the tablet this time, simply focusing all his attention on Steve.

Tony was enraptured with the way that Steve lost more and more of his composure, getting shocked more often and making choked-off noises as his shifting and wriggling around kept jarring the plug inside of him. After a while, Tony could see how Steve kept getting more and more desperate as he got tired, truly tired of keeping his legs spread out for so long out of his own strength. Tony knew that the shocks weren't actually hurting him, but they couldn't have been that pleasant, especially when he let his legs drop too much for too long.

When the twitching and flinching started getting bad again, Tony got up and went to remove the wands. The insides of his thighs were dotted with bright red spots, just sharp enough for Tony to know that they were going to be a source of soreness for a while, but not enough to be concerned about. As soon as the wand contraption was removed, Steve took the opportunity to immediately drop his legs, going completely limp in his bonds, breathing hard.

Tony allowed him the moment's reprieve without comment as he grabbed the paddle again.

"You better keep those legs spread for the next ten minutes while I paddle you, or else we're going to start the whole thing over." Tony came to stand behind Steve and trailed the end of the paddle against Steve's back.

Steve whimpered out a wordless complaint, so Tony retaliated by giving him a light tap on his ass. With a fortifying breath and an involuntary shiver, Steve took the hint and carefully spread his legs. He knew that Tony's threats weren't something to take lightly at this point, because Tony had done exactly that and carried out his threats  in the past. There was a fine tremble in his muscles, Tony could see, and he must have been feeling the burn in his legs fiercely by now.

"Jarvis, set the timer." Without further hesitation, Tony began to lay into Steve, smacking his ass and thighs in a pattern that only Tony knew. Tony could see how the paddling was rocketing Steve's arousal to almost-begging levels, could tell that Steve was biting his lips to keep his pleading and words inside, but he couldn't stop the noises that were pulled from him. He didn't bother to penalize Steve for the two times that Steve lost his composure a little bit, mainly because he heard a faint, ' _please_ ' each time, and he wanted to encourage Steve to talk.

When time was up, as notified by Jarvis, Tony set the paddle down and put his hands on either side of Steve's straining thighs. "You can relax," Tony murmured, and it was like a puppet cut of his strings, the way that Steve let himself hang.

"Please, Tony…" Steve breathed out in between harsh panting. His ass was bright red and hot to touch, but Tony still trailed his fingers over the sensitive skin, appreciating the shivers that followed.

"Yes, Steve?" Tony asked curiously, knowing that Steve would refuse to keep going with whatever train of thought he'd had. Tony knew that Steve himself wasn't sure what he wanted to ask anyway. More of the paddle? To be let down? To be allowed to come?

Steve was done with the paddle, and his cock was swollen enough that Tony was half-worried that Steve might come regardless of outside help or permission, but he still needed a little bit more.

Sure enough, nothing followed out of Steve's mouth except for soft wordless whines and deep breaths.

He left Steve resting as Tony went about putting together the next contraption. It was very simple, just a dildo stood up at the end of a pole that could be secured vertically. He maneuvered it in front of Steve. Tony paused and looked up at Steve and waited for a moment. Steve's eye flitted to Tony a few times before settling his focus just below Tony's eyes. It wasn't quite where Tony wanted yet, but he still had time.

"Pull yourself up high." Tony requested simply. Steve closed his eyes and sucked a breath in before readjusting his grip on the chains and pulling himself up a few feet. He even bent his knees and curled into himself a little bit to give more room to work with. Tony could see that it was taking a lot of effort, as opposed to how easily he normally could do it under other circumstances. It wasn't going to take too much longer before Steve cracked all the way, now, Tony could see.

Tony positioned the dildo right underneath Steve and then reached up to caress Steve's ass that was in easy reach. Steve faltered for a moment, uncurling himself before realizing his mistake. Tony simply soothingly pet Steve for a moment before getting a grip on the plug and easing it out. Steve's ass clenched around nothing, and a low whine escaped Steve's throat.

"Easy, just this last thing." Tony reached around, sneaking his hand in between Steve's curled position and took Steve's cock in his fist, stroking him for the first time that night and making Steve gasp at the sudden contact. The unexpected touch made Steve uncurl enough for Tony to get a good grip on him and give him another stroke before slipping a cock ring down, fitting it snug at the base.

As soon as Steve realized what just happened, he groaned, conflicted between the anticipation of pleasure and the denial of release.

"Alright big boy, easy now, you can come down." Tony's hands didn't leave Steve's hips and thighs, guiding him as Steve gently relaxed his hold. Tony had positioned everything just right, so the dildo was soon nudging right against Steve's entrance. When Steve hesitated, Tony just made affirming noises and pulled him down a little bit to help.

By the time Tony coaxed Steve to go down all the way, Steve was shaking and moaning nonstop, tossing his head and breathing harshly. He was effectively impaled on the dildo, and with his legs hanging down, his toes were barely scraping the floor. Tony had calibrated it right, and knew that Steve's full weight was working against him now.

With Steve distracted, Tony quickly looped a thin, vibranium chain around the base of Steve's cock to the base of the dildo; again, it was measured exactly right so that if every time Steve tried to lift himself up, he wouldn't be able to pull himself all the way up and off from the dildo. He'd have at least an inch of the dildo just inside him at all times.

Tony stroked Steve a few times just to earn a variety of reactions before he stepped back. He unbuckled his belt and slipped out of his pants, tugging off his shirt as well, before he leaned back against the desk. He stroked himself absently, giving himself a little bit of relief for the first time since they started all of this. He opted to not sit this time, so that he could drink in the sight that was Steve. He watched as Steve forced himself to calm down enough to explore his options, watched as Steve kept coming back to the fact that he could not get away no matter how hard he tried, and how his arms were getting much too tired to be the only thing working.

At last, the cracks Tony had been waiting for, were finally appearing. Steve couldn't relax, because if he did, he'd be impaled, and the dildo really was just a little bit too big to be comfortable. So then Steve would try to lift himself off, but because of the thin chain Tony had affixed to him previously, he was unsuccessful in that turn of events; on top of that, his arms were straining under his own weight, and after being strung up for so long, he was nearing exhaustion levels of physical exertion, something that a few hours on the punching bag wouldn't even begin to touch. To ease the strain in his arms, and to give himself a break, he'd eventually slide back down onto the dildo to rest until he couldn't stand being impaled again, and started the whole cycle over again.

And on top of all that, the poor guy was getting all the stimulation from the friction he created as he essentially fucked himself on the dildo, so naturally Steve was growing frantic with all of it. It was an increasingly desperate and endless circle that had no easy way out.

Tony was relieved when Steve finally cracked all the way and started begging.

"Tony, please," Steve gasped out, "please just let me, let me…" he didn't know what he was begging for, to come, for a rest, for something.

Tony came up to Steve and started running his hands all over his tense body, and started talking, knowing that Steve was finally open to take praises and comfort. "Easy, you're okay. You're so good for me, aren't you? Such a good boy, so wonderful."

Steve's breath kept hitching, near tears. He was being splayed open and was unable to do anything about the kind words that Tony was laying in to him.

"I'm so proud of you, Steve." Tony continued, letting his hands stroke up and down Steve's waist, chest and anything he could reach. "You always try so hard, always do the right thing, and I know you will always try your best. You're so _good_ , Steve."

Steve was breaking wide open under all the compassion, and kept trying to get himself off, in every way possible. He strained futilely, to get off of his post, and his cock was leaking precome with how hard he was, but he knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere unless Tony let him.

Tony just kept going, whispering sweet things to Steve while touching him everywhere but where Steve wanted it most. It wasn't until Steve reached a new level of begging and desperation and clear exhaustion, that Tony took it as his cue to change tactics. He could see how Steve was having a really hard time lifting his own dead weight off the dildo, and how his fingers were slipping, loosening his grip and just letting the cuffs pull him up. His head was drooping, too, and Tony spied tear tracks on Steve's face.

"You're so good for me, Steve. You're so strong and brave and amazing. Can you do something for me? Just pull yourself up a little bit? I'll take this away, just use that strength you have, one more time for me, you got it." It took a little bit of coaxing before Steve managed it, able to lift himself off completely once Tony took off the thin chain, but leaving his cock ring on. As soon as he was free of the dildo, Tony moved Steve away from the contraption with the silent help of Jarvis moving the chains.

"So good. Can you do something else for me, Steve? Can you spread your legs a bit for me?" Tony asked gently.

That got Steve to break down, crying freely and mumbling, "Please, please, please, Tony, please." He shook his head side to side and sniffled loudly, coughing and tripping over his words as he begged Tony, but pointedly not saying 'no'.

Tony just gently and carefully encouraged Steve to do it, hands reverently touching Steve and pushing softly until he had Steve shakily doing it, muscles spasming under the effort. Tony was quick to grab a real spreader bar and attached it smoothly to Steve's knees, giving Steve a break from the strain, and allowing him to relax again. For his good behavior, Tony jacked him off occasionally as he began to bring up Steve's  legs, one at a time, to fasten them to his thighs in a frog-tie position of sorts. It took away any control Steve had left, so that he could no longer move his lower body.

"Tony, please." Steve whimpered, hips trying to push into Tony's grip, but he didn't have much leverage to pull it off.

"Yeah? What do you want? I'll give you anything you want, because you deserve it." Tony answered, stroking him long and slow and feeling the way Steve's cock twitched in his hands.

"Fuck me, please, Tony, just, let me, please? Please, I can't,-" Steve babbled through sniffles and moans.

"Hey, it's okay, I've got you, I've got you." Tony cooed, "It's all going to be okay, I promise." Tony let go of Steve's cock, earning a plaintive whine for his efforts, and settled his hands on either side of Steve's waist. "Look at me."

This time, there was no hesitance or resistance when Steve lifted his eyes to meet Tony's. To anyone else it would have looked like defeat, but to Tony, it was just acceptance. Steve held the eye contact steadily, pupils blown wide with desperation and arousal, and his expression was pleading and vulnerable. 

"You're so good, Steve." Tony's voice was colored with awe, and Steve blinked out a few more tears. With a comforting squeeze, Tony moved to stand behind Steve, and with the help of Jarvis, Tony lowered and guided Steve down until he was seated on top of Tony. Steve groaned at being filled, and he let his head loll back onto Tony's shoulder, where Tony turned to kiss him on his temple.

"That's it, just let me take care of you." Tony murmured as he began to set a nice and slow pace, fucking up into Steve gently and letting his arms wrap around Steve to hold him close. Steve kept breaking down, too overwhelmed with his helplessness and exhaustion, and Tony could feel his neck growing wet from where Steve had turned his face to hide. Tony just kept stroking him and praising him, hushing him softly when Steve grew frantic again and speaking softly and kindly, telling Steve how much he loved him.

When Tony took off the cock ring and whispered, "Come for me," Steve was helpless to do anything else but obey Tony. Tony continued to fuck him nice and easy throughout his orgasm before coming himself, deep and hard into Steve. When he pulled out, his come dripping from Steve, he could feel how much Steve was shaking and crying, completely overloaded and stripped bare. He tightened his hold on Steve and kissed him softly, turning Steve's face towards him so that he could capture Steve's mouth with his. Steve was slack and plaint under Tony, and whimpered helplessly with each kiss.

"Let's get you down from there, okay? You've been so good for me. _So_ good." Tony kept petting Steve, letting Steve tip his head back on his shoulder for a quick rest before helping to guide him towards the bed. He was so happy that he had spent so long fixing the ceiling to be able to do this with some assistance from Jarvis, because Steve was really too heavy to move otherwise. This way, he could move Steve until they were right over the bed.

Tony kept murmuring various praises to Steve as he went about untying Steve's legs from his thighs, gently easing each leg down until they were dragging along the sheets. He then had Jarvis lower Steve down until he was lying on his stomach, and Tony took care of the cuffs, rubbing the reddened skin underneath. Tony took his time, massaging out the cramped muscles in Steve's arms, shoulders and upper back, kneading the knots until Steve went limp and his noises quieted down to soft breathing and the occasional unintelligible mumble. Steve's eyes had long shut closed, but Tony knew he was still keeping himself awake.

"I'll be right back. Count to ten." Tony whispered as he left the bed to grab a damp towel.

When he came back, he heard Steve mumble, "S'ven." Tony grinned and went about cleaning Steve up, who was still trembling. He was careful as he wiped over Steve's sore backside and made sure to clean up the excess lube around his ass.

It was right about that time when Tony started getting worried about Steve's breathing; he wasn't hearing it anymore, and Steve had been strung up for so long and then was on his stomach for a while now. He pushed and prodded at Steve to turn over until he was on his back, and like usual, his worries vanished when he saw that Steve was fine, breathing a little shaky still, but nowhere near any level of danger. His chest was rising and falling normally except for the occasional hitch, but those were coming out fewer and fewer.

Satisfied, Tony situated himself in bed, sitting up against the headboard, next to Steve. Once he was in place, it just took a light nudge before Steve was curling himself around Tony, head in his lap and limbs tangled around Tony's legs. Tony's hand immediately buried itself in Steve's hair, carding his fingers through the sweat-matted locks.

"Talk t' me?" Steve mumbled, mouth pressed against Tony's far hip. Steve stretched his neck a little to the right for better access, giving Tony more room to work with when Tony started to lightly scratch and massage the tendons along his neck. He was nearly purring in Tony's lap within a few moments.

"Did I tell you about the project I'm currently working on?" Tony asked, pitching his voice low and soft. Steve shook his head, but it was a heavy movement. Tony didn't mind, just smiling and pulling up a hologram screen in front of him and launching into the finer details of his project while simultaneously working on it. 

After only a few minutes, Tony looked down and saw that Steve had fallen asleep, mouth slightly agape and soft snores beginning to appear. He could even feel his thigh getting a little sticky wet with the little bit of drool that was coming from Steve. Tony smiled, happy to see Steve completely and utterly relaxed. It always took a while to get him to this point, but Tony loved it when he got to see Steve so soft and calm and settled in his own skin again. It gave Tony a sense of balance as well, and Tony was just glad that he was there for Steve. He went back to his project, satisfied with knowing that they were both going to sleep well tonight.


End file.
